By Roland Piquepaille
It's the weekend, so it's time to relax and check if a new technology can improve the lives of those searching for love. Now, video phones are adding vision to online dating and it will be much more difficult for you to pretend to look like, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Britney Spears. Your potential date will see you in real time on her or his phone. And BBC News reports that a U.K. 3G networking company, simply named 3, has launched a contest to find the best videos done on phones. You can submit a video of yourself, for only 50 p. (about US$0.92), and online voters will decide if you're among the top 100 contestants. On November 30, 2004, these most popular contestants will gather at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. And of course, they'll be hosted in separate rooms and only 'meet' by video phones. Read more...Hundreds have submitted a mobile video profile to win a place at the world's first video mobile dating event. The top 100 meet their match on 30 November at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).
The event, organised by the the 3G network, 3, could catch on as the trend for unusual dating events, like speed dating, continues.
The 100 most popular contestants voted by the public will gather at the ICA in separate rooms and "meet" by phone.
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Here is a screenshot showing some contestants (Credit: 3). If you ask me, they don't seem to handle lights very well. Anyway, you can see more pictures of contestants, watch their videos and also cast your vote by visiting this page. |
After the event, will 3G dating replace blind dating or speed dating?
Dating services and other more adult match-making services are proving to be a strong stream of revenue worth millions for mobile companies. Whether it does actually provide an interesting match for video phone technologies remains to be seen.
Flic Everett, journalist and dating expert for Company magazine and the Daily Express, thinks technology has been liberating for some nervous soul-mate seekers.
"It could really take off because you do get the whole package. With a static e-mail picture, you don't know who the person is behind it is."
"With a video meeting, you really have the barrier of the phone so if you don't like them you don't have to suffer the embarrassment."
If you're on the dating market, what do you think? Will mobile video dating replace or complement other online dating methods? And do you think it will eliminate cheaters? Please post your comments below.
Sources: Jo Twist, BBC News, November 11, 2004; and 3 (Hutchison 3G UK) website
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